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The emerging 'Internet of Things' (IoT), or
devices which can communicate with one another without human
intervention, offer huge business opportunities over the long term,
technology research firm Gartner has said. However, diversity of
current 'Internet of Things' applications fails to make a compelling
business case to explore or commit resources to this emergent area now, a
report by Gartner has said. The Internet of Things extends the role of
Internet to encompass an increasingly diverse range of devices and
communications streams, many of which will be essentially
machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, Gartner said. M2M technology
allows a device to capture, process and send information via a network
that can then act on the data. "The volume of opportunities arising
from the Internet of Things over the long term is generally agreed to be
in the realm of very large to huge," said Stephen Prentice, vice
president and Gartner Fellow. …

Low-income urban families
need 15 million homes in a price range of Rs 4-10 lakh, presenting an untapped
opportunity of a whopping Rs 9 lakh crore for real estate developers, according
to a report by Deloitte India. At least 30,500 housing units were launched
below Rs 10 lakh by private developers across 22 cities between June 2011 and
January 2013, of which maximum (nearly 39 per cent) were in Gujarat. There is
an increased interest in supplying housing and housing finance to low-income
customers but the gap between supply and need is huge, according to the report
'State of the Low-Income Housing Market' launched by Housing and Urban Poverty
Alleviation Secretary Arun Kumar Misra. "There is a large proportion of
low-income urban families, with a monthly household income of Rs 10,000-25,000,
who can afford privately build formal housing costing Rs 4-10 lakh without any
aid from the government. "There is an estimated demand of 15 million homes
from these low-income cu…

Questioning Planning
Commission's latest poverty estimates, NCP leader and Heavy Industries Minister
Praful Patel today said they are based on "totally wrong" benchmark
of per capita daily expenditure of Rs 33.33 for cities and Rs 27.20 for
villages. "...the ceiling set by them (Planning Commission) is totally
wrong. In today's time, Commission should set a new ceiling keeping in mind
inflation and high cost of living. We do not agree with this data," Patel
told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here. According to
Planning Commission data, persons spending over Rs 33.33 a day in cities and Rs
27.20 in villages are not poor. Based on this, Commission concluded that the
poverty ratio in the country declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per
cent in 2004-05. On whether living at Rs 27-33 a day was sufficient for poor
people, Patel said though there has been progress in the country but the
Planning Commission ceiling on poverty is incorrec…

Wiping out most of its early
losses, the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex today closed almost flat on revival of
buying by funds after marginal recovery in rupee from record lows and the
government announced steps to revive investment climate. After falling to
19,126.82 points intra-day, Sensex managed to close with just a loss of 2.64
points, or 0.01 per cent, at 19,345.70. The gauge has now lost over 955 points
in six sessions. Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty
lost 13.05 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 5,742 led by banking and
interest-related stocks. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed
at 11505.51, down 51.04 points or 0.44 per cent. Rupee plunged to 61 per dollar
before trading at 60.88 when the stock market was closing, after Finance
Minister P Chidambaram said government will take measures to attract long term
non-resident Indian funds. Global markets are keenly awaiting US GDP data
release and a policy statement following Fed's 2-da…

The Telugu Desam Party has
asked the Centre to immediately constitute a committee of experts to assess the
quantum of funds required to develop a new capital city for Andhra Pradesh
state subsequent to the formation of Telangana state. "According to our
rough estimates, a staggering Rs 4-5 lakh crore will be required to build a new
capital and comprehensively create necessary infrastructure. The new capital
should be developed on par with Hyderabad," TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu
told reporters here today. Chandrababu placed a set of demands before the
Centre to fulfil before completing the formalities related to formation of
Telangana state. "The Centre should provide full monetary support for
building the new capital. There are a number of central Public Sector
Undertakings, research centres and premier educational institutions in
Hyderabad. Similar institutions should be built in (new) Andhra Pradesh so that
employment opportunities will be available for people of th…

More than 82 lakh income tax returns have
been e-filed till Monday which is 40 per cent higher than the same
period last year, the Finance Ministry today said. "On July 30,
2013, 6.23 lakh returns were e-filed till 6 pm. Record peak of more than
85,000 returns per hour has been achieved," the ministry said in a
statement. Last date for filing income tax return for individuals and non-auditable cases is July 31, 2013.
The statement said that due to overwhelming response, some taxpayers
have reported problems in accessing e-filing portal which is primarily
due to network constrains of the local Internet service providers. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made it mandatory for
salaried individuals earning up to Rs 5 lakh annually to file income tax
returns. The tax department had expected a huge surge in the number of
online filings. In the last two assessment years (2011-12 and
2012-13), CBDT had exempted salaried employees earning a salary of up …

RBI Governor D Subbarao today said liquidity
tightening steps were not a panic reaction and he refused set a
timeline to reverse them, justifying the measures to tame the rupee and
keep policy rates unchanged. This is his last policy as he is retiring on September 5th after leading RBI for 5 years...RBI's next Mid Term policy review will be on September 19th. This is Subbarao's 20th Monitory Policy..."We are as anxious as anyone else to roll
these back. But getting locked into a time frame is both not feasible
and inadvisable," Subbarao told reporters at the customary post-policy
meeting here this afternoon. Subbarao left all key policy rates
unchanged and called for urgent measures from the government to contain
the current account deficit, which is the main reason for the rupee
declining close to 12 per cent since April 1. The recent liquidity
tightening measures are aimed at checking undue volatility in the
foreign exchange market and will be rolled ba…

In the "eye of an employee turnover storm",
Indian companies need to seriously focus on factors such as clarity
about business strategies and fair compensation to retain talent, says
global HR consultancy Hay Group. Citing the practices of the country's
most admired companies, which have been able to hire, harness and retain
top talent, Hay Group said such entities depend on five factors for
talent management. They are providing clarity on strategies, instilling
confidence, encouraging employees to reach their potential, enabling
them to work better and aligning rewards, it said. ". the economic
upturn is expected to come with a risk that will have implications for
talent management -– driven by an ambitious middle class, employers at
India Inc will likely face a talent crisis in the coming year," Hay
Group India Managing Director Gaurav Lahiri told PTI. He said that
already employees are starting to seek new job opportunities in sector
where …

US President Barack Obama has zeroed in on
"some extraordinary candidates" to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke who can take ordinary people's views into account when deciding
the fiscal policy of the world's largest economy. In an
interview New York Times, Obama commented on one of his most anticipated
decisions - to find a replacement to Bernanke when his term expires on
January 31. Obama said he had narrowed his choice to succeed
Bernanke to "some extraordinary candidates" and he would announce his
choice "over the next several months." With current fiscal policy
measurably slowing the recovery, many in business and finance have
looked to the Fed to continue its expansionary monetary policies to
offset the drag, the Times said. Obama underlined that he wanted
someone who would not just work abstractly to keep inflation in check
and ensure stability in the markets. "The idea is to promote
those things in serv…

A feisty US President Barack Obama has vowed
not to "sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the next 1,200 days" in
the face of opposition from his Republican rivals in Congress who are
blocking his efforts to improve the lives of weary Americans.
Obama also said the widening income inequality and the lingering effects
of the financial crisis have frayed America's social fabric and
undermined Americans' belief in opportunity. "I will seize any
opportunity I can find to work with Congress to strengthen the middle
class, improve their prospects, improve their security," he said.
Obama, 51, now in the seventh month of his second innings at the White
House, he vowed not to be cowed by his Republican adversaries in
Congress and said he was willing to stretch the limits of his powers to
change the direction of the debate in Washington. "I'm not just
going to sit back if the only message from some of these folks is no on
everything…

The hiring trend in the private insurance
firms shows an optimistic outlook in view of the proposed rise in
foreign direct investment with experts predicting up to 30 per cent
growth in recruitment. "The job scenario in the private insurance
segment has been good and it is growing consistently, despite the cost
optimisation. Hiring will rise to around 25-30 per cent from last year
as more investments are likely to happen in this sector, and big players
will eye more business in the country," GlobalHunt Managing Director
Sunil Goel told PTI. If the global economic conditions are better, the
hiring would go by up to 40-50 per cent, Goel added. Recently, during a
meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet decided to raise FDI
cap in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent under
automatic route, under which investing firms do not require prior
approval from the government. Shriram Life Insurance CEO and whole time
Director Manoj Kumar Jain,…

India Ratings has maintained a negative
outlook for the infrastructure sector in the second half of 2013, citing
the current unfavourable macroeconomic variables and project-level
challenges. "The slowing economy will have a negative impact on
transportation assets, particularly those in early ramp-up stages. Road
and port projects continue to be plagued by execution challenges and
poor traffic, while a sizeable number of power projects continue to be
impacted by fuel shortages, execution bottlenecks and weak off-taker
quality," the rating agency said in a report released here today. This,
the report said, will constrain the sponsors' ability to raise equity,
which in turn will pressurise weaker projects, especially those with
frail financial structures. India Ratings, however, added that "the
long-term credit fundamentals for infrastructure projects remain
protected, underpinned by favourable demand trends due to the massive
infrastructure deficit …

Political uncertainties in Andhra Pradesh over Telangana issue has hit Hyderabad's residential market hard. Developers are sitting on unsold housing stock of 28 per cent of the
units launched during last 3-4 years, says a report by global property
consultant Knight Frank. "33,000 homes are unsold in the primary
residential market of Hyderabad till June 30, out of 1,18,000 housing
units that have been launched by the developers over the last 3-4
years," Knight Frank India Chief Economist and Director Research
Samantak Das told PTI. Das added that the growth in housing demand has
been slower than the supply because of political uncertainties in Andhra
Pradesh over demand for a separate Telangana state. The consultant
also said that it will take more than two years to absorb the current
unsold inventory as the city has been taking longer time for absorption
than other metros. "Largely an end user market, Hyderabad has witnessed
an extended slump due t…

As part of its HorizoNext strategy, auto
major Tata Motors today launched 'Tata Motors Service', a comprehensive
and renewed service programme for achieving deeper customer engagement.
Besides, the company, which has been facing steep fall in sales for the
past many months, also rolled out 11 distinctive service offerings
across its 800 service networks spread over 500 locations. "As a part
of our greater focus on customer delight in our HorizoNext strategy,
these service initiatives harness technology and our network to take
service to a higher level of customer satisfaction," Tata Motors
passenger vehicle business unit head Ranjit Yadav said after unveiling
the new brand identity for the company's new service programme. With
these initiatives, the company will harness its over 800
technology-backed sales outlets and customer insights to the next level,
he said. To attract customers, the company has already announced a new
format of its passeng…

When it comes to employment, many aspirants
give more weightage to the job profile and brand image of a company than
the salary package, a survey shows. The survey by
Firstnaukri.com, a portal for campus hiring, also found that BE/B.Tech
IT students prefer IBM for employment, followed by TCS and Infosys. "Job profile and brand image of the company continue to rule the
choice in comparison to salary package during placements," according to
the survey. The findings are based on questions e-mailed to
jobseekers registered with the portal. It covered BE/B.Tech, BBA, BCA,
B.Sc, non-IT engineers, finance and computer science graduates and
post-graduate students. "Infosys, TCS and IBM still remain the
big giants in campus placements for IT students. It is interesting to
note that the students are keener for a good job profile rather than a
fat salary package," Firstnaukri.com Business Head Deepali Singh said. For non-IT engineers, the Defence Research and D…

President Pranab Mukherjee
today inaugurated a library and sports ground with a small regret that if he
had come to Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier he could have saved some structures from
demolition. "I thank my team and Secretary Omita Paul for renovating this
library (named after him). "I wish I could have come a little earlier and
saved some (structures) from demolition and (they could) be utilised for better
purposes," he said addressing families of those who reside in the
Rashtrapati Bhavan complex. The gathering included a number of youngsters.
Mukherjee today spent close to two hours meeting kids, youngsters and staffers
of the Presidential Estate as he dedicated the two facilities and unveiled a
bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi near the historic Durbar Hall of the
President's house. The 77-year-old President inaugurated the first ever statue
of the Father of Nation in the Rashtrapati Bhavan which till now only has his
portraits. "Many great people come to th…

Auto and home loan borrowers need not pay
post dated cheques towards EMIs as RBI has directed banks to collect
monthly instalments through electronic mode wherever the facility for
such fund transfer is available. Banks are advised that no fresh or
additional post dated cheques (PDC) or Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI)
cheques shall be accepted at locations where Electronic Clearance
Service (ECS) is available, RBI said in a notification. "The existing
cheques in such locations may be converted into ECS by obtaining fresh
ECS (Debit) mandates," it said. The move is aimed at cutting usage of
cheques and promoting electronic transfer. It will also save borrowers
the efforts of going to branch for collection of cheque books. The
notification also said that ECS also accords the same rights and
remedies to the payee against dishonour of electronic funds transfer
instructions under insufficiency of funds as are available under Section
138 of the Negotiable Instru…

Questioning Planning
Commission's latest poverty estimates, NCP leader and Heavy Industries Minister
Praful Patel today said they are based on "totally wrong" benchmark
of per capita daily expenditure of Rs 33.33 for cities and Rs 27.20 for
villages. "...the ceiling set by them (Planning Commission) is totally
wrong. In today's time, Commission should set a new ceiling keeping in mind
inflation and high cost of living. We do not agree with this data," Patel
told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here. According to
Planning Commission data, persons spending over Rs 33.33 a day in cities and Rs
27.20 in villages are not poor. Based on this, Commission concluded that the
poverty ratio in the country declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per
cent in 2004-05. On whether living at Rs 27-33 a day was sufficient for poor
people, Patel said though there has been progress in the country but the
Planning Commission ceiling on poverty is incorrec…

President Pranab Mukherjee completes a
year in office tomorrow. He has a very busy schedule for the day which
includes unveiling of a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi sculpted by a
89-year-old man and launching of a project to digitise rare photographs.
The President, who has made only two foreign visits during the year
and travelled extensively within the country. He begins his day by
inaugurating "Pranab Mukherjee Public Library" for the residents of the
Rashtrapati Bhavan. The library is coming up in a dilapidated building in
the President's Estate which was renovated and converted into a library. It si only for the use by the residents of
the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and their children. Fully air conditioned,
the library will have a rich collection of books, newspapers and
magazines for all age groups as well as a special children's section.Separate reading rooms will be provided for young students to
prepare for competitive and other examinations.…

Hiring for IT graduates in the country would
witness a slight difference from this year, as hiring patterns have
changed and priorities placed on soft skills and domain-based
specialisation, a top NASSCOM official said today. "The hiring
might not be the same from this year, since the hiring patterns has
changed," NASSCOM president Som Mittal told reporters here. He
also attributed the slow hiring pattern to the slow attrition rates in
the country, "When the attrition rates are less, naturally hiring rates
will also be slower." As to whether the hiring will be less, he
said, "The numbers will not be as big as it used to be... though, we
will be hiring in 2014-15, they will actually be for 2015-16, so that
they can go through their training.. We spend over two per cent of our
revenue for training." The hiring would happen this year in two
phases -- September to October and in May to July, he said, adding, in
the first phase it will happ…

Haryana topped the
list among large states recording largest household monthly per capita
expenditure (MPCE) in urban areas whereas in rural areas, Kerala ranks the
first, a government survey said.
Haryana recorded a MPCE of Rs 3,346.32 in cities followed by Himachal Pradesh
at Rs 3,173.30 and Kerala at Rs 3,044.22 as per the National Sample Survey
Organisation's survey on household consumer expenditure from July 2011 to June
2012. The study also revealed that among the large states, Kerala stood at first
position by recording MPCE of Rs 2,355.53 in rural areas followed by Punjab at
Rs 2,136.39 and Haryana at Rs 1,925.96.
In case of union territories and smaller states, Andaman and Nicobar islands
tops the charts with monthly per capita expenditure of Rs 4,439.03 in urban
areas followed by Delhi at Rs 3,160.76 and Chandigarh at Rs 3,000.27. Similarly in rural areas, among union territories and smaller states, Delhi comes
first with MPCE at Rs 2,690.24 followed by Chandigarh at Rs …

Advertising industry
watchdog ASCI upheld complaints against 123 campaigns in May for misleading
ads, including those of Sony India, Vodafone, Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt
Benckiser India. According to the Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI (Advertising
Standard Council of India), maximum 70 complaints of misleading ads were from
the education sector during the month.
The CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the advertisement of Sony Xperia
Z smartphone which showed the phone could be washed with water and still it
worked were not substantiated and the complaint was upheld, said ASCI. ASCI also upheld a complaint against Reckitt Benckiser's ad for Veet body
moisturiser which claimed, among others, that 'it's unique pro-minimise formula
delays hair re-growth which makes your skin feel touchable, smooth for a longer
time' putting it under not adequately/scientifically substantiated category.
Similarly, another FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever was also pulled o…

Wealthy investors are
reposing greater faith in their portfolio managers for investments or advisory
services, as the assets under management of such entities have reached a record
level of Rs 7 lakh crore in the Indian capital markets.
According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Assets Under
Management (AUM) of portfolio managers increased to Rs 7.01 lakh crore at the
end of June, from Rs 6.17 lakh crore in the previous month.
This is the 14th consecutive monthly rise in AUMs of portfolio managers, who
mostly manage investments or provide advisory services to High Networth
Individuals (HNIs). The total AUM has nearly doubled since the data was first
released by the market regulator Sebi in December 2010.
During June, portfolio managers individually handled assets worth Rs 5.15 lakh
crore for discretionary services, besides Rs 78,198 crore for advisory services
and another Rs 29,255 crore for non-discretionary investments.
Of the total assets managed by portfolio m…

To bring in greater transparency in
corporate funding of political parties' poll expenses, the government
has paved way for setting up of 'Electoral Trust' companies that would
get tax benefits for funds given to various political outfits. The
latest move would allow the entities to register non-profit companies
having 'Electoral Trust' as part of their names, thus differentiating
them from the companies having other business interests. The Corporate
Affairs Ministry has amended its 'Name Availability Guidelines' for the
companies to enable registration of such entities. "Name including
phrase 'Electoral Trust' may be allowed for registration of companies to
be formed under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 under the
Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013, as notified by the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT)," the ministry said in a new circular. However,
such a company would have to be a new entity and the name application …

The 163-year old telegram service may have
technically come to an end a week ago but for many who rushed to be a
part of history by sending their last telegrams, the journey is not over
yet. Even after a week of booking their cherished telegrams, many --
including those who used 'Taar' for the first time in their lives -- are
still awaiting confirmation that the messages have indeed been
delivered to the rightful recipients. "I booked eight telegrams on
Sunday but none of them has reached. I rushed to book telegram, the
service that I never used in my life, as it was turning in to history,"
says Delhi-based businessman Sanjeev Yadav. "With so much delay in
delivery, government has killed the meaning of telegram," Yadav, who
stood in the queue at Central Telegraph Office for around two hours,
said. The telegram, once the fastest mode of communication, lost its
sheen with advent of telephone and later with widespread of mobile
phones. Still…

India has emerged the second largest
investor in London, with companies like software major Infosys attracted
to the city by the investment fervour generated by the 2012 Olympic
Games. Software services firm Infosys led the charge of inward foreign
direct investment (FDI) by a total of 28 Indian companies, which
generated 429 additional jobs for the British economy in the last year
alone, according to latest government figures released here today to
mark a year since London hosted the world's biggest sporting events.
"India is a very important market for us and these are fantastic
results. The Olympics provided the perfect opportunity for Indians to
come and experience London and resulted in more Indian companies setting
up here," Gordon Innes, CEO of London and Partners (L&P) and the
Mayor of London's business and promotional organisation, told PTI. "I
had taken the mayor, Boris Johnson, to India last year where we held
some very important …

Indian professionals are more hardworking
than their peers globally with many of them dedicating at least one to
three hours for work even during holidays, says a survey. The
findings, based on a survey of more than 26,000 executives worldwide by
provider of flexible workplaces, Regus, revealed that about 49 per cent
of Indian professional spends more time on work, much higher than the
global average of 41 per cent. As per the survey, the top reasons
making professionals to work on vacations are the urge to check mails,
the boredom of being so free on a holiday, obsession with files, clients
and meetings and insecurity about jobs or the uneasiness of leaving
behind the workstations. Individually, 50 per cent of Indian men
surveyed prefer to work for around one-three hours every day even when
on a holiday as compared to 38 per cent women respondent in the country.
"The dedication men worldwide and especially in India are showing
towards their jobs is admirable …

HSBC Global Research has retained its Sensex
target of 20,700 points at the end of 2013. "After the Q4 FY13 (ending
March) earnings season, the Street scaled back forecasts on GDP, the
rupee value against the USD and market EPS. We believe this dose of
realism is healthy for the market," HSBC Global Research said in its
`India Equity Insights Quarterly' report. "With growth concerns now
more severe across North Asia, we believe India looks relatively better
placed in a regional context. Our year-end 2013 index target is 20,700 -
3 per cent above the current level," it said. The 30-share BSE
benchmark index ended at 20,149.85 today. "We believe the recent
liquidity tightening by the Reserve Bank of India is likely to be
temporary, as it could derail the nascent recovery. Raising the Marginal
Standing Facility (MSF) rate on July 15 to 300bps above the repo rate
should see a hardening of the yield curve," HSBC Securities and Capital
Mar…

A majority of stock exchanges worldwide came under cyber attacks last year and
almost 90 per cent of them perceive such activities to be a potential systemic
risk, according to a survey. For the bourses, cyber-crimes -- whose nature is
becoming more complex -- could result in "massive financial and
reputational impact," among other adverse fallouts. The findings are part
of the 2012-13 Cyber-Crime Survey jointly conducted by the IOSCO Research
Department and the World Federation of Exchanges. It covered various exchanges
and central counterparty clearing houses across the world. The International
Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is a grouping of capital market
regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
"A majority of exchanges (89 per cent) view cyber-crime in securities
markets as a potential systemic risk," the report said. More than half of
the exchanges surveyed said they had suffered a cyber attack in 2012.
"Exchanges…

Britons are shunning the
formal 'thank you' and are more likely to use trendy phrases such as 'super'
and 'awesome' to show their gratitude, a new study has found. Words such as
'Cheers', 'ta' or 'that's great' have replaced a thank you because many Britons
think it's too formal. Researchers found that four in 10 Britons prefer not to
use it while 13 per cent think it is old-fashioned, the 'Daily Express'
reported. Instead, words such as 'cool', 'brilliant', 'lovely', 'fab', 'super',
'you star', 'wicked', 'okay', 'nice one', 'much appreciated', 'awesome' and
even 'boom' are more popular than a thank you. "People still like to give
and receive thanks, but in the modern world there are a million different ways
to do this. People use different phrases depending on the situation and who
they are speaking to," said Zoe Sho…

Travellers having Internet
access are increasingly using smartphones and tablets to get information about
tourist destinations and make payments online, says a Goolge study. Of more
than 1,500 travellers surveyed, 87 per cent said they used smartphones to
research their trips and 66 per cent respondents said they booked a trip
element on it, the study 'Multi-screen Traveller' said. About 60 per cent
respondents said information they find while researching on smartphones
influences their booking decision, it said. The study revealed that 76 per cent
users use both computers and mobile devices across various travel stages such
as researching and booking. Moreover, the biggest trigger for holiday planning
are online pictures. Browsing pictures on social networks, blogs, travel sites
get users to start thinking of their next vacation destination, it said. Indian
travel planner goes through a variety of resources around destination research,
like browsing through pictures on social…

State-run steel maker SAIL has received job applications from over 1.80 lakh engineering graduates for 640 managerial posts. "The process (of recruitment of engineering graduates) has been
attracting high number of applicants from leading institutes across the
country, with an overwhelming response of over 1,80,000 applicants in
2013," Steel Authority of India (SAIL) said in a statement. The leading
steel producer regularly inducts young, qualified and professional
talents in frontline managerial cadre and has invited applications for
640 posts this year. "The recruitments have been to the tune of
over 600 engineering graduates every year keeping in view the on-going
massive expansion and modernisation programme involving investment of Rs
72,000 crores approx," the company said. "Selection for the same is
based on an extensive written examination followed by a group discussion
and interview," it said. During the current year, the test was …

Franco-Japanese auto alliance Renault-Nissan
today said it will double its investments in India to 5 billion dollars
in the next five years for overall expansion, including new products
and adding fresh production capacity in the country. The alliance,
which today announced a completely new global platform of vehicle
(CMF-A), developed fully from the scratch in India for high growth
markets, said it is still working on an ultra low cost car (ULC) that
would be only tad costlier than Tata Nano. "We have been investing in
India .... The Chennai plant, technical centre and the new platform
CMF-A and others for introducing new models, so far we have invested USD
2.5 billion in the country," Renault-Nissan alliance Chairman and CEO
Carlos Ghosn told reporters here. "There are so many products coming.
Nissan has already said 10 cars by 2016 and Renault is also planning to
bring many more. So our overall investments of USD 2.5 billion in India
will double in t…

TCS has emerged as India's most admired
company ahead of Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and Infosys, says global
management consultancy Hay Group. According to the findings of the
second edition of India's Most Admired Companies (IMAC) compiled by Hay
Group in association with Fortune India, TCS replaced last year's winner
group company Tata Steel by scoring highest on parameters such as
corporate governance, financial soundness, and talent management.
Second-ranked FMCG HUL has been rated highest on its endurance and
product quality, while ITC and Infosys share the joint third spot. SBI,
L&T, Tata Steel, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, and ICICI Bank also feature in
the top 10. Commenting on the findings, Hay Group India MD Gaurav
Lahiri said "this year, two criteria in particular, Leadership, and
Creating Shareholder Value, separated the Top 10 from the rest of the
winners, with Talent Management coming in a close third."
Interestingly, last year's top…

A diver struck gold, literally, when he
found 48 gold coins that are nearly 300 years old, and believed to be
worth a whopping USD 200,000, off the coast of Wabasso Beach in Florida.
The coins, discovered by the 'Capitana' boat crew over the weekend,
are believed to be those aboard 11 Spanish ships that broke apart in
1715. Bounds and his crew found the gold approximately 200 feet off the
coastline, 'New York Daily News' reported. "You go out every day,
hoping that it's gonna happen, and a lot of times it doesn't," dive boat
Captain Greg Bounds told WPTV news channel. "But when it does, it's
just amazing, the feeling that you get," he said. "Eleven Spanish
galleons, loaded with treasure, were sunk along the coastline out here
by a hurricane (in 1715). That's what gives us the Treasure Coast," said
Brent Brisben, whose company owns salvage rights. "To see [Bounds]
come up out of the water, and over th…

Microsoft has quietly cut the price of its
entry-level Surface tablet computer by some 30 percent, after surveys
indicating sluggish sales. The Surface RT tablet was being sold for as
low as USD 349 for US customers on the Microsoft website today, down
from the introductory price last year of USD 499. The move comes amid a
price war for tablets and a flood of new devices on the market. Amazon
has slashed prices of its Kindle HD tablets to as low as USD 169 in the
US and 139 pounds in Britain, while Barnes & Noble has cut the
price of its Nook to as low as USD 129, and has announced plans to
outsource production of its tablets. Microsoft introduced its Surface
last year at a premium price, promoting the device as a substitute for a
personal computer with an attachable keyboard. But a survey by the
research firm IDC estimated the company sold just 900,000 units in the
first quarter, in a global market of some 49 million. Microsoft
previously cut the price of the …

In a move to stem the continuing fall of
rupee, the RBI tonight came out with a slew of measures including hiking
the lending rates for banks and sucking up of Rs 12,000 crore, to make
the currency dearer. The measures came after high level meetings
between the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister followed by
discussions with RBI Governor D Subbarao who was called here today as
the rupee lost 33 paise to reach 59.89 after touching over 61-levels
last week. Under the measures announced, RBI raised lending rates to
commercial banks 2 per cent to 10.25 per cent making the loans costlier.
The RBI will conduct sale of Government of India Securities to suck up
Rs 12,000 crore on July 18 from the market, in a move to make rupee
dearer. "The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate
is calibrated with immediate effect to be 300 basis points above the
policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)...
Accordingly, the Bank Rate also stands adjusted to 10.25 …

The Economy is passing through critical phase...Rupee is falling to historic lows....Industrial output dropped to record lows...There is looming shadow of slowdown on the Economy...But the spending power of a majority of people in the High-Income Group continues to rise amid the economic slowdown, with more than a third of their income set aside for luxury brands ASSOCHAM in its survey report revealed.."Despite the global economic slowdown, the size of high-income group consumers continues to grow and they spend over 40 per cent of their monthly income on luxury items, whereas middle-income group consumers have come under heavy pressure," Assocham said in a statement on the survey. The respondents said the slowdown in the economy had not affected their spending patterns, with many of them stating that maintaining their lifestyle was an extremely important facet of their social life, it said. "Brand recognition continues to rise as consumers become more discerning and se…

Leading bourses BSE and NSE today decided to
shift securities of several firms, including Vijay Mallya-led
Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries (Holdings), to the restricted
trading category from July 19. The scrips of Reliance MediaWorks and
Ramco Systems, among others, would also be moved to the restricted on
both stock exchanges. BSE would shift 62 securities to the
trade-for-trade or 'T' group, while NSE would transfer 36 stocks to this
segment, the stock exchanges said in separate notifications today. The stocks would be shifted with effect from July 19. In the trade-for-trade segment no speculative trading is allowed and
delivery of shares and payment of consideration amount are mandatory. As per the bourses, the move is part of the "surveillance review and
with a view to ensure market safety and safeguard the interest of
investors". The stock exchanges have advised the trading members
to take "adequate precaution" while trading…

Online ticketing firm BookMyShow.com today
said it has inked a five-year pact with PVR Ltd, to sell tickets of the
multiplex chain online across the country. "BookMyShow.com has
signed a five-year deal as the online ticketing partner for PVR cinemas
across India. The companies are targeting ticket sales worth Rs 1,000
crore over these five years," BookMyShow.com said in a statement. Bookmyshow will market and sell tickets of PVR Cinemas, over its web, mobile apps and other affiliate channels, the company said."The partnership extends to
areas outside just pure sales but also to harnessing bookmyshow's
analytical ability to ensure targeting the right content to right users
as well as marketing initiatives around non-movies and alternative
content," BookMyShow.com Founder & CEO Ashish Hemrajani Said."This is another initiative to help
augment the box office revenues by reaching out to more and more
consumers and achieving better penetration in…